Collection problems

Nine out of ten authorities in the top list are under Labour control and therefore Pickles has used the data as an excuse to criticise the way in which these councils collect council tax.

But these Labour-led towns are all in areas of the country where people statistically have less money. So Labour has said it's not a case of people not wanting to pay tax, it's a case of them not being able to afford to.

This situation is about to get worse too...

Council tax changes

The council tax system has had a major overhaul and local councils are now in control of collecting council tax.

Council Tax Reduction has also been introduced, which is basically a replacement for Council Tax Benefit. It’s there to help people who can’t afford to pay their council tax but it doesn’t offer the same benefits as the previous scheme. This means many people are now having to pay this tax, which is on average £247 a year, for the first time.

In an economy where incomes are squeezed and cuts are taking place across the board, it’s unlikely this change will do little to help the problem of council tax arrears.